The city of Tomball's Broussard Community Park will be joined with Harris County Precinct 4's Mathews Park, City Manager Rob Hauck said, as part of an interlocal agreement approved by Tomball City Council on Oct. 7.
The agreement states Tomball and Harris County will share responsibilities for Broussard Park rather than duplicating services in Broussard and Mathews parks, he said.
"This is us taking two parks, two medium-sized parks, and instead of having ... a city park and a county park divided by a fence—because of the great relationship that this city has with Commissioner Cagle's office with Harris County Precinct 4—this is an opportunity to open these parks into one big park," Hauck said during the meeting. "This is an opportunity for government to really work well and work efficiently."
The city's newest park, Broussard Park at 1414 E. Hufsmith Road, borders Mathews Park at 1728 Hufsmith Road. Broussard Park spans 14 acres,
Community Impact Newspaper previously reported, while Mathews Park spans 6 acres, according to Precinct 4 information.
The 30-year agreement authorizes the county to "establish, provide, maintain, construct, and operate park or recreational facilities" in Broussard Park, such as developing walking trails, providing daily maintenance and helping to construct parking lots, the agreement reads. In return, the city provides a connection to city water in Mathews Park and provides storage for county maintenance equipment, the agreement reads.
"This interlocal agreement in no way transfers any ownership; it in no way transfers any control," Hauck said.
Hauck said the city amended its park rules earlier this year to be consistent with Precinct 4's park rules, which allowed this agreement to happen. City Council approved new rules and regulations for city of Tomball parks during an Aug. 5 meeting.
"We realized [Precinct 4 needs] water and sewer. We need trails. They have people that are already assigned at Samuel Mathews Park that can handle the addition of this park for the daily routine maintenance if we simply provide them space in our barn [and] if we adopt like park rules," Hauck said during the meeting. "This really is something to celebrate, I believe, because it's a great example of government working together."
Other items approved
- During the Oct. 7 meeting, Tomball City Council also approved the property tax rate for fiscal year 2019-20 of $0.341455 per $100 valuation, which is no change from the previous year's rate.
- Council members adopted an update to the city of Tomball's comprehensive plan, a 20-year vision for the city's future. This update includes changes to the city's future land use map. Read about the plan's proposal for revitalizing the Business 249 corridor here.
- Tomball City Council heard a presentation regarding changes to city impact fees—one-time fees collected for new connections to the city's water or wastewater services. The updated impact fees will be adopted Oct. 21 after a second reading of the ordinance.
